702 CCVI. LACISTEMACE^E. 



the habit of Buxus, cordate, margins thickened, penninerved ; stipules 0. FLOWERS 

 axillary, solitary, many-bracteate ; bracts bifariously imbricate, in unequal pairs, 

 membranous, ovate, acute, penninerved. PERiANTH-segments 4, ovate, mucronate, 

 nerves parallel, aestivation imbricate. STAMENS 8, inserted at the bottom of the 

 perianth, the 4 opposite the lobes rather the longest ; filaments elongate, included ; 

 anthers erect, ovoid, versatile, cells mucronate, dehiscence longitudinal. OVARY free, 

 4-lobed, 4-celled, narrowed into the styles ; styles 4, cohering into one conical 

 4-grooved style, but at length free ; stigmas minute ; ovules 2 in each cell, collateral, 

 pendulous from the apex, anatropous. CAPSULE 4-celled, loculicidally 4-valved at 

 the top, cells 1-seeded. SEEDS ovate, sub-compressed ; funicle short; testa thin, 

 2-lobed between the hilum and inicropyle ; albumen fleshy. EMBRYO straight, 

 central, as long as the albumen ; cotyledons linear, fleshy ; radicle cylindric, obtuse, 



superior. 



ONLY GENUS. 



Geissoloma. 



A monotypic family, native of the mountains of South-west Africa, usually combined with Penccacea, 

 but differing wholly in the bracts, periajith, stamens, ovary, ovules, and seed. It has no known pro- 

 perties. ED.] 



CCVI. LACISTEMACE^E. 1 



(LACISTEMACE^;, Martins. LACISTEME^E, Meissner.) 



[FLOWERS 5, spiked, bracteate and 2-bracteolate. SEPALS 0-6 or 4, petaloid, 

 imbricate. DISK large, fleshy. STAMEN 1, 2-fid. OVARY free, l-celled; STIGMAS 3; 

 OVULES 3-6, pendulous, apical. DRUPE with a 3-valved endocarp. SEED solitary, 

 pendulous, arillate. EMBRYO straight, in a fleshy albumen. LEAVES alternate, 

 stipulate. 



SHRUBS or TREES. LEAVES alternate, distichous, persistent, penninerved, often 

 pellucid-punctate ; stipules lanceolate, caducous. INFLORESCENCE of axillary solitary 

 or fascicled spikes. FLOWERS , minute, crowded ; bracts erose, lower empty ; 

 bracteoles 2, linear. PERIANTH of 2-6, usually 4 petaloid segments, persistent, the 

 anticous largest, posticous smallest, lateral exterior in aestivation. DISK fleshy, 

 shorter than the perianth, often unequal, margin inflexed and lobed. STAMEN 1, 

 anticous, inserted on the disk, persistent; filaments 2-fid, each arm l-celled, cells 

 dehiscing transversely; pollen ovoid, smooth, 3-furrowed. OVARY free, l-celled, 

 narrowed into the style ; stigmas 3, minute ; ovules 3-6, pendulous from near the top 

 of the cell, anatropous, funicle thickened. FRUIT a drupe, l-celled, with a 3-valved 

 dry endocarp, each valve bearing a placenta on its axis, one only with a seed. 

 SEED pendulous ; aril complete, fleshy ; testa crustaceous ; albumen copious, fleshy. 

 EMBRYO central, straight; cotyledons ovate, flat, appressed, nerved; radicle long, 



cylindric. 



ONLY GENUS. 



Lacistema. 

 1 This order is omitted in the original. ED. 



